BlueMaxCougar

I am doing some repair work on a 92 Honda Accord that was given to me.I'm not a rice racer, so it will be up for sale when I'm done.The proceeds will be going toward an LS swap into my 90 Blue Max Cougar.I been parts hoarding for suspension and brake upgrades.Also planning on going with the SN95 Cobra hubs and brakes.

BFK86

iTrader: (1)

@smokymance I've seen pics of that bird around before..love that car! I myself used to have a 97 4.6 bird, deffinetly have a soft spot for them! I'm right there with you, I'd love to swap in a 6.0 truck motor into my mark and do the typical bolt ons to it..just don't have the knowledge, time and fabricating skills to do it all myself

Smokymance

iTrader: (1)

Im in the same boat as you...wish this swap was easier!!! some real monster tbirds would come out of it...

great write-up tho

LM

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

I didn't think it was that hard, but I've been fabricating stuff for years.

Honestly the biggest trouble spots I had were the accessory drive, exhaust manifolds and lack of accurate vehicle side wiring information. Getting the engine and transmission mounted were so easy the engine has only been in and out once - initial test fit and final welding. Granted there was a LOT of measuring to get to that point.

Knowing what I now know (I found this forum after I finished the car) and five years of hard driving later there are many things I would do slightly different.

Next go round I'm may try the LS3 Corvette accessory drive without AC. This would mean I would only need to make the AC bracket for the Ford compressor, but I might have to move the fuse and relay panel in the process.

I'm hoping to get some ground covered on another project of mine so I can start playing with this car again instead of driving it everywhere. I have a lot of little things to update and some upgrades to install in the process.

Thanks for reading, glad you liked it.

Nice cars Smokymance, I still toy with the idea of doing a Mark VIII but I already have too many vehicles. A Mark VIII was the original plan, but the Thunderbird fell into my lap for a price I couldn't refuse.

BlueMaxCougar

I can't wait for that.I am still looking for a wiring harness for my Accord.Once it's back together,I'm selling it and looking for an LS for my Cougar.Hoping for a 6.0 but will go for a 5.3 if the price is right.I have to do the brakes all around so I'm going with SN95 Mustang hubs and Cobra brakes.Uggg!I'm so ready to start this project and finish so I can drive the **** out of it.

Smokymance

iTrader: (1)

Haha, thats how i ened up working on the tbird as well...and fabricating a 5 speed into it was just like you stated, super easy compared to what people thought...

I have a LS 6.2L supercharged in the truck...and i can only imagine what that powertrain would do to these tbirds...my tbird is slightly above 400 at the wheels and it scoots, I can only imagine making another 200 on top of that!!!

What you need to do is fab some brackets for sale and let the MN12/TTCoA community, people will go wild with their cars...everyone would love an LS in a tbird , they are so beautiful yet so underpowered.

BlueMaxCougar

Dingo mounts are what I plan to use.I have been looking for a manual pedal assembly for a t bird/cougar but I can't find one any where locally or online.I did find one online but they wanted $500 for it.They know that there are few left around.

Smokymance

iTrader: (1)

Have you searched on TCCoa.com. Thats where i got my pedal assy , master cyl etc when i converted to the 5 speed

BlueMaxCougar

I will do that again when I sell the Accord and have cashola in hand.

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

I got super lucky, I found a pedal in a salvage yard. Now if I could only stumble across a GM T-56 for a reasonable fee...

BlueMaxCougar

That makes 2 of us.My budget for just the engine and trans is $1500.looks like I'll be auto for a while.

662KUNTRY

Gofastwclass, I have a 89 Thunderbird and I am swapping a 6.2LS engine. I ran across your build (Awesome BTW) and I have been scouring the net trying to locate motor mounts to the stock k-member, no luck… I seen the #189 post and I like it but I have some questions; 1. Will the mounts you listed (energy suspension 3.1114G) fit over the stock k-member mount? 2. Will the motor with all stock truck accessories and oil pan fit w/ using your mount set up? 3. Will the motor be too far back/forward?
I know I’m shooting a lot out but, I’m ready to get this going but I wanted to do my research first and you’re the first person with a thread that has completed this….

BlueMaxCougar

http://dirtydingo.com/store/index.php?cPath=1_354

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

No. The upper adapters I made mate the 3.1114G bushings to a lower mount that is 100% custom and mimics the setup in the 1960's GM vehicles I'm used to working with. I chose those mounts because I'm familiar with them and had ready access to a set when building the car, not because they actually fit anything. I've also used various control arm bushings on other builds due to space or other concerns. Since I fabricate everything it's a matter of what I have on hand at the time and what the budget or goal is. If the goal is a stock look or cutting as little of the original vehicle as possible, I'll go stock and work around the vehicle. Ironically, the Thunderbird was originally designed to be returned to stock with minimal work.

No, not even close. At least not under a stock hood which was my #1 goal. I used the Thunderbird AC compressor on a custom bracket. I built a custom low mount passenger side bracket for the alternator and modified the truck power steering bracket. All of this required a custom belt route and a different length belt. If I had it to do over and had a bigger budget I would have probably used an LS3 Corvette or Camaro accessory drive from GMPP. Very clean and fully engineered by GM which makes it very solid.

I used a GMPP Muscle Car Oil Pan kit and it fits perfectly. The factory truck pan hangs down too low. I have less than 1/4" between the pan and crossmember and about 1/2" between the top of the LS1 intake and the bottom of the hood. I know the 1996 / 1997 cars have a bulge in the hood and I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.


In this chassis there really isn't much room to go any direction without hitting something you really can't (don't want to) move. I used the original tailshaft and rear of the engine as a baseline and built everything from there. This gave me enough room to get the heater hoses on the stock heater core to work and clearance for the electric fan up front. I spent a lot of time measuring the stock engine and making notes. As such, believe it or not, the engine has only been out of the car once. In for initial mockup to ensure everything cleared, out and back in after final welding was complete.

One thing to note, this setup will require a custom transmission crossmember. Even though the transmissions are very close in overall length, the mounts are in different locations. I used the factory holes in the body to mount a crossmember of my own design.


Thanks for the interest, the questions don't bother me at all. Good luck on your build.

662KUNTRY

I certainly appreciate it!!!!

Moose_of_Death

Not to sound incredibly stupid, as you probably already discussed this (and I missed it), but how did you tie into the T-bird electronics, if at all?

I actually have a Mark 8 that I'm really not wanting to invest thousands into just to get the ridiculously-huge DOHC engine somewhere into the power range of a stock Corvette, so I look at this swap with interest.

The electronics just scare the hell out of me with this car.

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Power and economics are exactly why I did the swap. I'm a GM guy anyway, but trying to build a 4.6 when 4.8 and 5.3 GM engines start off more powerful, tunable and plentiful just doesn't make sense. Toss in $600 for a cam and springs and you're really running.

Moose_of_Death, this is an excellent question. Most of the vehicle electronics are separate from the engine management which makes life easier. The instrument cluster and OBD II port are really the main concerns coupled with the park / neutral switch for the transmission and obviously fuel pump.

The best bet is to obtain a used dealer service manual for your car. It's a two volume set that includes wiring diagrams, connector locations and pin outs. This will allow you to translate the crazy Ford wiring logic into something you can use for your own purposes. Be prepared for wires that change colours and gauge across connectors. A schematic with pin outs is the only way to go here.

I found my service manuals on The Bay. Mine were surplus dealer stock, only slightly used and reasonably priced. Another option is Mitchell or AllData but you would need to print the schematics yourself. One problem with the subscription option is the price for those may outweigh the physical manual cost and you can keep the manuals.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

BFK86,

Is this a LS swap? If so, is there a build thread?

Andrew

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

No, we were just discussing changing the bolt circle on the hubs from 5 x 4.25 to 5x4.5 for better stock wheel selection.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Is anyone aware of a documented Mark VIII swap? This chassis seems like a good candidate for a classy, comfortable daily driver.

Andrew